‘Living on my own was scary’: How children’s homes support young people with nowhere to go

During this time, the house he came to had found land that he could rent; He rented a bed for $150 a month in a room he shared with five other people.

Ashley earns about $1,500 a month from her part-time job at a laboratory that tests air quality; This goes towards expenses such as food, transportation and school fees. The house is currently subsidizing tuition fees for a part-time diploma in applied sciences at a polytechnic.

He plans to apply for financial aid for school expenses.

The house also covers most of her accommodation rent, and she worries it will become even harder to find affordable housing after she officially leaves home at 21.

MSF said young people working full-time will be provided with social services for a year when they are discharged. They will not be able to benefit from financial aid.

Melrose Home launched Thrive21(+) in 2021 to help youth ages 17 and up with the challenges of moving. So far, 9 citizens have benefited.

The program consists of one year of preparation while young people are at home, teaching them the skills needed to become self-reliant, from financial management to household management, and two years while living in the community.

Ms Soh Ying Si, who works from home as a social worker, said a flat was rented from HDB for the first group of the programme, and they lived together to make it “less scary for them”. The lease will expire in June 2025.

He added that the home covers rental fees for them, while also collecting payments for smaller expenses like utilities and Wi-Fi.

When they fail to pay their share for a particular month, Ms Soh said they must learn to speak for themselves and explain why they cannot pay on time.

“They always had this fear and strange feeling of living in a place with no one to turn to,” he said. In the beginning, the young people returned to Melrose House almost every day to have dinner together.

The program aims to bridge the gap between care and independence, he said, adding that inadequate support could undermine the intervention that children’s homes have provided for years.

Another aftercare support initiative by social service agency Trybe, which runs the Singapore Boys’ Hostel, has been expanded in 2022 to include young people in other children’s homes, offering them follow-up assistance and guidance.

The Growing Resilience Youth in Transition program, launched in 2015, was initially only for boys in the hostel.

Youth who need help can enroll in this program on their own, or other homes can refer them at least three months before discharge. A social worker was then assigned to follow them for 12 to 15 months, said Ms Helga Foo, a social worker from Trybe.

The social worker will befriend the youth, mentor them and connect them with community resources, he said.